In God I Trust

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A ^(A)Miktam^[a] of David, when the ^(B)Philistines seized him in Gath.

Ahab Reigns in Israel

²⁹ In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰ And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(A)more than all who were before him. ³¹ And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(B)he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the ^(C)Sidonians, ^(D)and went and served Baal and worshiped him. ³² He erected an altar for Baal in ^(E)the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. ³³ And Ahab made an ^(F)Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger ^(G)than all the kings of Israel who were before him. ^34 (H)In his days Hiel of Bethel built ^(I)Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

Elijah Predicts a Drought

17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of ^(J)Tishbe^[a] in Gilead, said to Ahab, ^(K)“As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, ^(L)before whom I stand, ^(M)there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” ² And the word of the Lord came to him: ³ “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. ⁴ You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” ⁵ So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. ⁶ And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. ⁷ And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

Elijah Flees Jezebel

19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how ^(A)he had killed all the prophets with the sword. ² Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ^(B)“So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” ³ Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to ^(C)Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

⁴ But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. ^(D)And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” ⁵ And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” ⁶ And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. ⁷ And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” ⁸ And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food ^(E)forty days and forty nights to ^(F)Horeb, the mount of God.

The Lord Speaks to Elijah

⁹ There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, ^(G)the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰ He said, “I have been very ^(H)jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, ^(I)thrown down your altars, and ^(J)killed your prophets with the sword, ^(K)and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” ¹¹ And he said, “Go out and ^(L)stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and ^(M)a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind ^(N)an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.^{[a] 13} And when Elijah heard it, ^(O)he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, ^(P)there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴ He said, ^(Q)“I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, ^(R)thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” ¹⁵ And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. ^16 (S)And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and ^(T)Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. ¹⁷ And the one who escapes from ^(U)the sword of Hazael ^(V)shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu ^(W)shall Elisha put to death. ^18 (X)Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not ^(Y)kissed him.”

Jesus Begins His Ministry

^14 (A)And Jesus returned ^(B)in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and ^(C)a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵ And ^(D)he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

^16 (E)And he came to ^(F)Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And ^(G)as was his custom, ^(H)he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up ^(I)to read. ¹⁷ And ^(J)the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and ^(R)sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were ^(S)fixed on him. ²¹ And he began to say to them, “Today ^(T)this Scripture ^(U)has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² And all spoke well of him and marveled at ^(V)the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, ^(W)“Is not this ^(X)Joseph's son?” ²³ And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ^(Y)‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did ^(Z)at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” ²⁴ And he said, “Truly, I say to you, ^(AA)no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. ²⁵ But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when ^(AB)the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, ²⁶ and Elijah was sent to none of them ^(AC)but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷ And ^(AD)there were many lepers^[a] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, ^(AE)but only Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. ²⁹ And they rose up and ^(AF)drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. ³⁰ But ^(AG)passing through their midst, he went away.

Many Signs and Wonders Done

¹² Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people ^(A)by the hands of the apostles. And they were all ^(B)together in ^(C)Solomon's Portico. ¹³ None of the rest dared join them, but ^(D)the people held them in high esteem. ¹⁴ And ^(E)more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, ^15 (F)so that they even ^(G)carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by ^(H)at least his shadow might fall on some of them. ¹⁶ The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, ^(I)bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

The Apostles Arrested and Freed

¹⁷ But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of ^(J)the Sadducees), and filled with ^(K)jealousy ¹⁸ they arrested the apostles and ^(L)put them in the public prison. ¹⁹ But during the night ^(M)an angel of the Lord ^(N)opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, ²⁰ “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all ^(O)the words of ^(P)this ^(Q)Life.” ²¹ And when they heard this, ^(R)they entered the temple ^(S)at daybreak and began to teach.

Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. ²² But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, ²³ “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” ²⁴ Now when ^(T)the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. ²⁵ And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison ^(U)are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” ²⁶ Then ^(V)the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for ^(W)they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

²⁷ And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, ²⁸ saying, ^(X)“We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you ^(Y)intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” ²⁹ But Peter and the apostles answered, ^(Z)“We must obey God rather than men. ^30 (AA)The God of our fathers ^(AB)raised Jesus, ^(AC)whom you killed by hanging him on ^(AD)a tree. ³¹ God exalted ^(AE)him at his right hand as ^(AF)Leader and ^(AG)Savior, ^(AH)to give ^(AI)repentance to Israel and ^(AJ)forgiveness of sins. ³² And ^(AK)we are witnesses to these things, and ^(AL)so is the Holy Spirit, ^(AM)whom God has given to those who obey him.”

³³ When they heard this, they ^(AN)were enraged and wanted to kill them. ³⁴ But a Pharisee in the council named ^(AO)Gamaliel, ^(AP)a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. ³⁵ And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. ³⁶ For ^(AQ)before these days Theudas rose up, ^(AR)claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. ³⁷ After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of ^(AS)the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. ³⁸ So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for ^(AT)if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; ³⁹ but ^(AU)if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You ^(AV)might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, ⁴⁰ and ^(AW)when they had called in the apostles, ^(AX)they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. ⁴¹ Then they left the presence of the council, ^(AY)rejoicing that they were counted worthy ^(AZ)to suffer dishonor for ^(BA)the name. ⁴² And every day, ^(BB)in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and ^(BC)preaching ^(BD)that the Christ is Jesus.

⁵ For what ^(A)we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ^(B)ourselves as your servants^[a] for Jesus' sake. ⁶ For God, who said, ^(C)“Let light shine out of darkness,” ^(D)has shone in our hearts to give ^(E)the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Treasure in Jars of Clay

⁷ But we have this treasure in ^(F)jars of clay, ^(G)to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. ⁸ We are ^(H)afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹ persecuted, but ^(I)not forsaken; ^(J)struck down, but not destroyed; ^10 (K)always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, ^(L)so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. ¹¹ For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. ¹² So ^(M)death is at work in us, but life in you.

¹³ Since we have ^(N)the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ^(O)“I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, ¹⁴ knowing that ^(P)he who raised the Lord Jesus ^(Q)will raise us also with Jesus and ^(R)bring us with you into his presence. ¹⁵ For ^(S)it is all for your sake, so that as ^(T)grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, ^(U)to the glory of God.